In contrast to last week's heart breaking announcement from Sling Media that the Mac version of their SlingPlayer software had been delayed, today we get word that the beta of version SlingPlayer 1.2 for Windows is now available in the U.S. What can users expect from this release, which runs in tandem with Sling Media's geek chic Sling Box digital media streamer?

Users streaming video over a LAN connection can expect higher quality streaming in the form of higher resolution (640x240) and increased speed, now at a max of 2Mbps. Chalk this up to High Quality Mode.

Sling Media has made it so that you can create as many favorite bars as you need and/or want. Additionally, and this has somewhat limited actual performance benefit, but now you're able to skin the SlingPlayer to your heart's content, using any number of pre-installed or user-created skins. Go forth and stream your media, citizens!